Strange behavior with first time empty nesting

[sneakymom]

Ok, so I've heard about dogs getting "weirded" out when the human children leave the nest for the first time.  How about cats?  

Our youngest left for school 2 weeks ago.  House is really quiet.  And it's kind of "freaking" the cats out.  Holly more than Sam, and that's kind of strange b/c Sam is more high strung.

For example, last night.  The youngest decided to Face Time us on my phone.  She wanted to see the cats (my kids are too funny- I have to send cat pictures LOL).  Holly started acting so strange.  She was meowing, sitting on my lap, burrowing etc.  It was almost like she was saying "Hey, I know that human's voice but where the heck is she?"  LOL  She's also taken to sleeping in her cat bed, she hasn't touched it since we bought it 9 months ago at Christmas.  She has been sleeping in an Amazon box with Minions on it (LOL). 

My oldest emptied out most of the furniture in her room.  She decided to live off campus in an apartment.  Well, we weren't going to pay for brand new furniture since she has no clue what's going to happen when she graduates in May.  She might stay, she might not, it all depends on where she gets an apartment, or if she finds a job here and lives at home.  That room is really making the cats nervous.  When we move the guest bed in there, they're really going to wonder what is going on.  

Poor kitties.  I never imagined that they would be having to deal with"empty nest syndrome" like the humans in the house were 

Cheryl 

 

[shadowsrescue]

My DS left for college last year.  His cat, Jake had a really hard time.  He and Jake were inseparable.  Jake went into mourning.  He threw up, had diarrhea, got stress pee.  It was not fun.  He was a stressed out mess.  Jake always slept in my sons room.  Once my son was gone, Jake would hardly even go into the room.  It was really sad.  After about a month, he started doing better.  We had another cat who he had never been buddies with and at that time he decided to become friends with the cat.  It must have helped to ease his mind.

We did spend extra time with him and did our best to play with him and have him spend time with use in the evening.  That helped too.

My son came home for the summer and it was as though he had never left.  Yet he just left last week to head back to school.  The cat and I are in mourning once again!  Yet this year is not nearly as bad as last year.  The house is quiet and I miss having him around too.  Jake won't go into my sons room again.  It must a special bond between the two of them.